Range Anxiety Put to the Test and Overcome: The Trip Home

 We set out from Shuniah on the outskirts to Thunder Bay on Sunday evening Oct 26 so we could enjoy the day with our family and still slice off the first180 km of our return trip.  We had 400km and arrived with 210 km. I charged again at the Ivy charger to 380 km - no issues. On Mon Oct 27, we drove 585 km to Carolyn Beach. 

We stopped at White River (200 km) with 150 km - we lost 30 km likely due to the hilly terrain. We charged to 450 km at the Ivy stations in front of the Continental Hotel (50 kwh) - again no issues. We enjoyed brunch in the adjacent restaurant. It's 315 km to Sault Ste Marie and we arrived with about 100 km. In SSM, we charged to 450 km at the amazing Electrify Canada stations at Station Mall and arrived at Carolyn Beach with 330 km - enough for Tuesday's 220km drive to Sudbury where we charged at the Flo station at Southside Chev dealership.  

It's 165 km from Sudbury to Parry Sound where we're staying tonight. Charged at the Lakeland station next to the Bobby Orr Community Centre and have 350 km - plenty to cover the 280 km to Port Hope, where we'll make our final charge.

Ten Observations

Many readers won't be making this particular trip. But many, if not all of the ten Observations below are generic in nature and you can apply them in the context of any long distance EV trip.

  1. Plan. Leave a 100 km margin. Have a back up plan even it means staying in place long enough to trickle charge. 
  2. Carry a good extension cord.
  3. Load up your phone with all relevant EV apps. Get RFID cards wherever you can. And be prepared for zones where there is no cell service.
  4. Don't rely on any one app. Not all chargers are listed on all apps.
  5. Thank you, thank you, thank you to folks who leave reviews so you have a fair chance of knowing what to expect.
  6. Drive at or slightly below the speed limit. 90 km worked for us.
  7. Remember that the projected kms is an estimate. I would discount it by 15% to be safe.
  8. The weather was cool a few mornings and instead of turning on the heat, we enjoyed the heated steering wheel, the heated seats and an electric blanket rated for our lighter. None of these seemed to impact the available kms.
  9. I wouldn't yet attempt this journey in the winter. Maybe if and when there is better infrastructure.
  10. EVs are still rare in the north it seems. We covered 2000 kms in the north and probably saw 6 EVs en route.
I end with a big note of thanks to Carl Duienvoorden who inspired us with his story and who offered me sage and regular support as we travelled. Check him out at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-duivenvoorden-3373984/?originalSubdomain=ca  and ask to be put on his mailing list. He's an inspiration and a great source of ideas on how each of us can contribute to protecting the environment.

Thanks for reading. I welcome your comments.  

Comments

  1. Stella BastoneOctober 28, 2025 at 6:20 PM

    Still literally a trailblazer! This is very exciting, Michael!

    ReplyDelete

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